General
- Welcome to PHYS 123A, the last of a three-quarter sequence of introductory physics courses for physics and engineering majors. You should find this course challenging and stimulating, and I hope that you also find it interesting and enjoyable. Have a great quarter!
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The course consists of lecture, tutorial, and laboratory components. Each component provides a different way of learning the material.
The three elements are carefully coordinated, but are not necessarily synchronized. NOTE: Concurrent enrollment in 123 Lab and Tutorials is mandatory.
Please direct any questions on the tutorial or laboratory components to
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Tutorial Instructor: Prof. Peter Shaffer
Email: shaffer@phys.washington.edu
Office: PAB C218
Phone: 206-543-6705
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PHYS 123 Lab Instructor: Prof. R. Daryl Pedigo
Email: pedigo@phys.washington.edu
Office: PAB B138
Phone: 206-543-4983
Lab Section Webpage: http://courses.washington.edu/pedigo/phys119+123sum09/
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Tutorial Instructor: Prof. Peter Shaffer
- Administrative support:
- Administrative Web Site (Links to other 12x sites, exam statistics, TA contacts, etc.)
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Program Assistant: If you need assistance with registration, have questions about grades or Lab and Tutorial policies, please contact
Susan Hong
susanh82@phys.washington.edu
PAB C136
543-4982 -
Undergraduate advisor: If you wish to talk with an academic counselor about becoming a physics major or minor, or have general questions about the physics program, please contact
Margot Nims
margot@phys.washington.edu
PAB C139
543-2772
- Never let anything go by if you do not understand. Generally, ask questions immediately. If it is inconvenient to interrupt, make a quick note to yourself and inquire later.
- Note that MATH 126 (Calculus III) is a prerequisite/corequisite for this class. It is the opinion of many instructors that students who have already completed MATH 126 are at a considerable advantage in PHYS 123. Hence, although it is possible to take the PHYS 121-3 and MATH 124-6 as simple corequisites (i.e. P121 with M124, etc.), students who have no prior experience with either calculus or physics should seriously consider getting 'one quarter ahead' in the MATH 124-6 sequence with respect to the PHYS 121-3 sequence.
- Be aware that many technical majors have a minimum grade requirement for a core of lower-division technical classes including the PHYS 121-2-3 sequence. Therefore, each student is strongly urged to discuss departmental entry requirements with their undergraduate or departmental advisors, and plan their course loads accordingly.
Course Texts
- Tipler, "Physics for Scientists and Engineers 6th Edition"
- McDermott and Shaffer "Tutorials in Introductory Physics"
- PHYS 123 Lab Manual.
Schedule
- Lecture schedule: MWTh 10:50-11:50 in lecture hall A118 of the Physics and Astronomy Building auditorium wing.
- The following is a tentative weekly course schedule. This will be followed as closely as possible, and changes will be announced as necessary.
Week Date Lecture Topic Text reading Tutorial Lab 1 22-Jun Faraday's Law & Lenz' Law 28-1 to 28-4 Lenz' Law No lab 1st week 24-Jun Inductance, Energy & RL Circuits 28-5 to 28-8 25-Jun AC Circuits 29-1 to 29-6 2 29-Jun Maxwell's Equations & EM Waves 30-1 to 30-3 Superposition & Reflection EM Induction 1-Jul Harmonic Oscillator (Review) 14-1 to 14-5 2-Jul Traveling Waves 15-1 to 15-2 3 6-Jul Waves, Barriers & Doppler 15-3 to 15-5 Reflection & Transmission Inductance & LR Circuits 8-Jul Exam 1 9-Jul Standing Waves & Beats 16-1 to 16-2 4 13-Jul EM Waves 30-4 Propagation & Refraction Standing Waves, Resonance 15-Jul Rays, Reflection & Refraction 31-1 to 31-3 16-Jul Polarization & More 31-4 to 31-5, & 31-7 5 20-Jul Mirrors, Lenses & Images 32-1 to 32-2 2 Source Interference Reflection & Refraction 22-Jul Optical Devices 32-4 23-Jul Phase & Two Source Interference 33-1 to 33-3 6 27-Jul Exam 2 Wave Properties of Light Curved Mirrors 29-Jul Diffraction 33-4 & 33-6 to 33-7 30-Jul Phasors 33-5 7 3-Aug Diffraction Gratings 33-8 Multiple Slit Interference Thin Lenses 5-Aug Light Waves & Photons 34-1 to 34-3 6-Aug Matter Waves & Wave Functions 34-4 to 34-7 8 10-Aug Expectation Values 34-8 to 34-9 Single Slit Diffraction Diffraction, Interference 12-Aug Schrodinger & Beyond 35-1 & 34-10 13-Aug Exam 3 9 17-Aug Atomic Structure & Spectra p1227 to p1237, & 36-6 No tutorial Universal Make-up [Spectra] 19-Aug Nuclei & Nuclear Reactions 40-1 to 40-4 20-Aug FINAL Exam
Grading Policy
- Concurrent enrollment in PHYS 123 lecture, tutorial and lab
is mandatory. Students will receive a combined grade for lecture, tutorial and
lab. The final course grade is based on the following grade weighting:
Midterm exams (best 2 of 3) 40% Final exam 25% Lab section 15% Tutorial section 10% Lecture homework 10%
- A summary of the grading policy for this course is found in the 12X Grading Policy Statement.
- The individual exams and sections will be combined based on the z-score [(your score - class average) / (std deviation)]. Your lowest midterm score (relative to the mean) will be dropped.
- I will adjust individual final grades by no more than 0.1 grade points (about 2.5 % out of 4.0 possible) based on records from in-class clicker questions.
- Note that there will be no make-up exams in PHYS 123A. Students with outside professional, service, or career commitments (i.e. military service, ROTC, professional conference presentation, NCAA sports, etc.) conflicting exactly with the exam dates must contact the instructor early in the quarter to establish alternate examination procedures. Students who miss an exam without making prior arrangements with the lecture instructor will drop that exam score.
- Exam Re-grades: If you believe that the points on the examination were incorrectly totaled, or if there is a gross error in the grading, you may return an exam for regrading. To do so, you must resubmit the examination no later than at the beginning of the lecture following the one in which the exams are returned. You must use this form and attach it to the front page of the exam explaining the possible error in the grading. You must return it to Susan Hong in the physics and astronomy building room C136. Do not make *any* changes or marks on the other pages of the examination. Each examination are scanned or photocopied. You should be aware that any request for a regrade may result in a regrading of the entire exam. Therefore your total score may increase or decrease.
- Lab and tutorial grading policies will be explained in your lab and tutorial section. Completion of most of the lab and tutorial work is required in order to pass the course. If you complete fewer than six labs during the quarter, and do not make up the work, your grade for the entire course will be 0.0! Even completing seven or six of the eight labs will reduce your grade significantly (about 0.6 or 1.2 grade points, respectively). Do not skip these important activities!
- Your Responsibilty: Check your grades on the WebAssign system every week or two, and report any problems to both the lecture instructor and the relevant TAs (and/or lab/tutorial faculty) immediately. Lab, tutorial and exam grades should be recorded for your review within one week from the date of completion of your work. WebAssign homework grades should be recorded within 24 hours of submission. Clicker question grades shall be recorded at the instructor's discretion. Grading problems that are reported in a timely fashion will be investigated and, if action is warranted, corrected. The lecture, lab and tutorial instructors may choose to ignore grading complaints that are not reported in a timely fashion. The instruction for WebAssign is found here.
Homework
- Lecture Homework will be assigned and collected weekly through the WebAssign system. The homework will be due 9:00pm each Friday. The first homework is due Friday July 3rd. If you cannot access WebAssign right before a homework assignement is due, you must send me an email with your answers before it is due to receive credit.
- The instruction for WebAssign is found here.
- Tutorial homework will be assigned and collected in each tutorial section. There will also be weekly tutorial pretests.
In-Class Clicker Questions
- I will ask around two questions per lecture where you can respond using an TX3100 RF tranciever (clicker), which are available from the University Bookstore. The infrared system that was used in previous years will NOT work this quarter. The clcikers used in chemistry and biology classes do not work in the physics lecture rooms.
- Your clicker's channel should be configured to channel 02. An instruction to configure your clicker can be found in section III in this link; this link has a lot of information that is irrelevant to you, so you should ignore other sections.
- I will adjust individual final grades by no more than 0.1 grade points based on responses to these questions. Half of those extra grades will come from attempting to answer, and the other half will come from having the correct answer.
- You are required to register your clicker here for your responses to be counted toward your grade.
- If your clicker is not working during a clicker question, you can submit a piece of paper with your name, student ID, clicker number, and your answer written on it during the clicker question to get credit for it. You cannot turn in the paper after the class.
Getting Help
- Study Center:
- Students are encouraged to gather and work cooperatively in small groups in the Physics Study Center located in room AM018 of PAA.
- To reach the Physics Study Center, go down the stairs that circle behind the Foucault pendulum and proceed toward the end of the hall.
- Teaching assistants will be available for consultation during many portions of the day if your study group needs assistance, but staffing levels will not support much individual attention.
- The Study Center is staffed from approximately 9:30am to 4:30pm on weekdays. A schedule of who is staffing the physics study center can be found here, Study Center Hours.
- Office Hours:
- You are strongly encouraged to visit me regularly during office hours, which I will hold in the study center from 4:00pm to 5:00pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
- You can also visit me by appointment in my office (PAB B454).
- I will attempt to answer questions by email in a timely manner.
- Discussion Forum:
- There is a discussion board for PHYS123A.
- You are encouraged to ask your fellow students for help with homework, or to organize study groups, etc.
Exams
- The Physics department reserves the right to ask for valid identification from any student during examinations.
- You will be shown a statement of what is and is not allowed on exams, and you will be asked to sign an agreement to abide by these principles. Basically the agreement is that you shall not cheat on exams.
- All the exams are closed-book. However, you are allowed one (for the midterms) or two (for the final) 8.5”x11” piece(s) of paper with formulae of your choosing on the front and back.
- Calculators are permitted, but text storage and graphics functionality must not be used. Cell phones, computers or any other devices that enable you to communicate with others are not permitted.
- Bring a "bubble sheet" to each exam. You can buy this in a variety of places around the campus - even in the h-bar.
- If you would like a regrade please complete this form and return it to Susan Hong in PAB room C136.
- Midterm 1
- July 8th
- Covers material up to the lecture on July 2nd.
- There will be the following sections:
- multiple choice, based on lecture material, worth 55 points
- long answer, based on lecture material, worth 25 points
- long answer, based on tutorial material, worth 20 points
Total distribution
Question I distribution
Question II distribution
Question III distribution
- Midterm 2
- July 27th
- The lecture part covers material from the lecture on July 6th to the lecture on July 23rd.
- The lab part covers material from the first 3 labs.
- There will be the following sections:
- multiple choice, based on lecture material, worth 55 points
- long answer, based on lab material, worth 25 points
- long answer, based on tutorial material, worth 20 points
Total distribution
Question I distribution
Question II distribution
Question III distribution
- Midterm 3
- Aug 13th
- The lecture part covers material from the lecture on July 23th (Two-source Interference part only) to the lecture on August 6th.
- There will be the following sections:
- multiple choice, based on lecture material, worth 55 points
- long answer, based on lecture material, worth 25 points
- long answer, based on tutorial material, worth 20 points
Total distribution
Question I distribution
Question II distribution
Question III distribution
- Final
- August 20th
- Covers material from the entire quarter.
- There will be the following sections:
- multiple choice, based on lecture material, worth 35 points
- multiple choice, based on lab material, worth 20 points
- long answer, based on lecture material, worth 25 points
- long answer, based on tutorial material, worth 20 points
Total distribution
Question I distribution
Question II distribution
Question III distribution
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